Troubleshoot NFS

Article under construction. Last modified on May 24th, 2015

NFS's roles in FOG

NFS is used to transfer images to and from clients in FOG, and is used on both the client and server. The server's setting file controls what files & directories are exported, and their options. NFS allows writing to the /images/dev directory and allows reading from the /images directory. During imaging, the client mounts either /images/dev (for uploading or capturing an image) or /images (for downloading or deploying an image).

During upload/capture, NFS uploads images into a folder in /images/dev/<MAC Address Of Client> During download/deployment, NFS downloads images from /images/<Image Path>

Please note that FTP is used to move images from /images/dev to /images.

Testing NFS

Mounting the remote directories

Linux must have an existing directory to mount remote directories to. Below, we create two directories and mount to each. On a separate Linux machine (not your FOG server), you can edit the /etc/exports file to mount a remote directory. After the mounts have been configured using the /etc/exports file, we can then issue the "mount" command to mount the remote directories into our local directories.

At the CLI of the separate Linux machine, follow these commands:

mkdir /FOGdev
mkdir /FOGimages
vi /etc/exports

Instructions on using Vi: Vi

You can configure the mounts for the /images and the /images/dev directories of your FOG server on your separate Linux machine by adding these lines to the end of /etc/exports:

line for mounting /images  ???
line for mounting /images/dev ??? 

After editing the /etc/exports file, the remote directories need to be mounted on your separate Linux machine:

mount FOGdev
mount FOGimages

Testing Uploading

You may test uploading to the /images/dev using the seperate Linux machine with this:

echo 'This is the text that I will upload' > /uploadtest.txt
cp /uploadtest.txt /FOGdev/uploadtest.txt

You may confirm that the file transfered by viewing it on your FOG server using:

cat /images/dev/uploadtest.txt

Remove the test file from your FOG Server like this:

rm /images/dev/uploadtest.txt

Testing Downloading

You may test downloading from the /images directory like this:

On your FOG SERVER, execute this:

echo 'This is the text that I will download' > /images/downloadtest.txt

On your '''SEPERATE Linux machine''', execute this:
<pre>cp /FOGimages/downlaodtest.txt /downloadtest.txt

You may view the file on your '''separate Linux machine''' like this:
<pre>cat /FOGimages/downloadtest.txt

Remove the test file from your FOG Server like this:

rm /images/downloadtest.txt

NFS Service

Fedora 20/21

• Check the status of NFS with

systemctl status nfs-server

(should be on and green, no errors, and enabled)

• stop, start, restart NFS service

systemctl stop nfs-server

systemctl start nfs-server

The restart command is most useful, if any errors are encountered during manual start/restart, they are displayed.

systemctl restart nfs-server

Enable NFS on boot:

systemctl enable nfs-server

Ubuntu

NFS status:

sudo service nfs-kernel-server status

The restart command is most useful, if any errors are encountered during manual start/restart, they are displayed.

sudo service nfs-kernel-server restart

Enable on boot ???

Code to enable on boot here ??? 

NFS Settings File

Fedora 20/21

The primary NFS settings file for Fedora 20/21 is located here:

/etc/exports

On a standard FOG install where everything is self-contained on one system, it should look like this:

sample config file here

Ubuntu

The primary NFS settings file for Ubuntu is located here:

/etc/exports

On a standard FOG install where everything is self-contained on one system, it should look like this:

sample config file here

Creating & verifying .mntcheck files

.mntcheck is a hidden and empty file that a FOG client uses during image upload/capture and image download/deployment to verify an NFS share is mounted correctly.

To create these files, on the FOG server:

touch /images/.mntcheck
touch /images/dev/.mntcheck

Verify these files with:

ls -laR /images | grep .mntcheck

This should return two results. One for /images and one for /images/dev

Disable & Verify Firewall

Fedora 20/21/22/23

Disable/stop Firewall

systemctl disable firewalld.service

systemctl stop firewalld.service

Can be undone with "start" and "enable".

Check Firewall in Fedora 20/21/22/23

systemctl status firewalld.service

Fedora 16

Add /bin/bash to /etc/shells as the vsftpd yum install does not do it correctly causing tftp timeout message

Debian/Ubuntu

sudo iptables -L

If disabled, the output should look like this:

Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination 

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination 

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Disable Ubuntu Firewall

sudo ufw disable

Disable Debian Firewall

iptables -F
iptables -X
iptables -t nat -F
iptables -t nat -X
iptables -t mangle -F
iptables -t mangle -X
iptables -P INPUT ACCEPT
iptables -P OUTPUT ACCEPT
iptables -P FORWARD ACCEPT

Other debian settings:

/etc/hosts.deny

This setting in the above file will deny traffic from any source except locally:

ALL:ALL EXCEPT 127.0.0.1:DENY

Comment out this line like so:

#ALL:ALL EXCEPT 127.0.0.1:DENY

Windows 7

Start -> Control Panel -> View by "Small icons" -> Windows Firewall -> Turn Windows Firewall On or Off -> Turn off all three.

Configuring firewall on Linux

To set the firewall for Linux to only allow what is necessary, please see the FOG security article.

Permissions

Permissions go here ???

Common problems and fixes

My problem isn't in the WiKi!

If you have a problem with FOG, or have a solution to a problem with FOG, please visit the forums for help or to report your solution. We try to keep the WiKi updated with things found in the forum. You can visit the forum here: FOG Forums

Image Upload: Error Checking Mount

Please see Image Capture: Error Checking Mount

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Gibberish / notes (temporary work space till article completion)

• testing

• mounting

• /etc/exports

• permissions

• writing/uploading

• reading/downloading